A Traveler's Success Story

The other day I had a few minutes to spare before getting the bus, so I stopped into a cafe.
I had the right amount of change for a raspberry muffin, and the cashier didn't even have to correct me.
I got to the bus stop just as a bus was arriving, and I knew which bus station to ask for to get home.
Most importantly, I didn't drop my muffin while I got out my bus pass.

Builder's Tea

Amidst all the galavanting and sight-seeing, I made it to school for orientation. 

Back Lawn

Back of the White House, which is the administrative building 

Such brick. Very mortar. 

Lawn in front of the Chapel, Cafe, and Conservatory.

Front of the White House. 

Grad classes don't start until next week, so I've been burying myself in pre-reading (and touring the various public libraries Manchester has to offer). 

Also, I've been told that the strength of tea I prefer is called "builder's tea," which means leaving the tea bag in for roughly twice as long as British Sensibility deems prudent. The More You Know.

City Centre

Student council took us (the first years) into the city centre for an afternoon of touring.

These walkways connect Town Hall and the Central Library.

This is where they told us, "The Americans can go stand over there if they want to feel like they're in Harry Potter." 

Mischief Managed. 

Town Hall as it faces St. Peter's Square.

More Town Hall. 

This is where the British Comic Con happens.

I think this is just a restaurant, but it's a pretty block of buildings, right next to an industrial-looking glass & steel shopping mall. 

Walk Home

Some sunset pictures from a walk home from the tram (trolley) last week:

Bridge over the canal (which runs through much of Manchester)

And the most ferocious guard dog on the block.

It's Not Weird...It's Different

In honor of Melissa T., some observations from my first few days here...

- "Brew" means tea or coffee
- Instead of a top sheet, you change your duvet cover and fitted sheet
- A bunch of vegetables have different names
- GPS? Try SatNav instead
- Squash isn't a vegetable, it's juice concentrate that you mix with water
- The whole driving-on-the-other-side-of-the-road thing is expected, but it turns out which way you look before crossing the street is more ingrained than I realized. No close calls, yet.
- Custard is heated and poured over desserts. The "skin" on top is a delicacy.
- Without a data plan, I don't have access to the internet unless I'm on wifi. As a die-hard Input, it's incredibly frustrating to walk by all these historical buildings and places and not be able to look them up right away.
- And then there's this:

Tea on the Terrace

Yesterday after church we went to a friend's house for tea....on the terrace...in the butterfly garden. I pinched myself a few times just to be sure it was real.

After lunch we went on a walk to pick blackberries on an old paved-over railway:

It was reminiscent of the Amador City backroads, except without the cattle pastures.

      A few days ago I went with Leanne to the hair salon. I didn't want to stare, but I'm pretty sure the woman running the shop was Molly Weasley. 

  It's raining, so I'm catching up on Harry Potter before the busyness of school starts. The kittens don't seem to mind having me around the house.

Dizzy was eager to help me update the blog today. 

In other news, my hometown has been on fire.  There are a few thousand fire fighters getting it contained, but it's been surreal to watch it all unfold on social media from 5,000 miles away.

245 Fairfield

4 airports, a few delays, a few too many timezones, and the most expensive airport sandwich I've ever consumed, I've arrived in Manchester. 

First view out the plane as we landed:

It's so green!

This is our street: 

 EVERYTHING is brick. And I now have photographic proof that the sky isn't always gray. 

 The view from my window:

Dizzy's decided that she's quite fond of my wool socks. The fact that I've pulled them out in September has Leanne laughing at me, but warm toes are worth a little ridicule. 

After my 11 hour "nap", we went to the Coffee Lounge at Ashton Church of the Nazarene. 

Most of the buildings in Ashton-Under-Lyne are brick and "historic." My tour guides (Leanne and her sister) thought my amazement at the architecture was entertaining. I had to explain earthquakes to them.

 I didn't get a picture of it, but the market around the corner from church had a cacti stand. So maybe there's hope for my green thumb after all. 

There are kittens in my lap and I'm on my 3rd cup of tea, so I'd say I'm settling in alright. 

Awesome People

The Sophomore Girls' prayer for the year has been "Dear Jesus, please help us be awesome people." 

It started out as a joke, but then it stuck, so we went with it. 

I've had the privilege of journeying with these ladies for almost 5 years now. They ask good questions, they explore what it means to love Jesus by loving their friends, their families, and sports teams, and they support me (physically as well as emotionally), even when I make decisions that mean leaving them right before SAT season. 

More than anything, they teach me by example that being "awesome people" usually means being vulnerable and courageous and grace-filled, and leaving a lot of room for Jesus.